Plant-hill marker.



J. Y. HUMPHRIES.

PLANT HILL MARKER. AFIPLICATIHiV FILED'SEPT- 211914.

f5 ZW/wc @4f/M I i v' 911111111135.

e THE COLUMNA PLANOGRAPH C0.. WASHINGTON, u. C.

JOSEPH Y. HUMPHRIES, or 'WoonsDALn NORTH CAROLINA.

PLANT-HILL MARKER.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application led September 2, 1914. i *Sera1No. 859,895.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH Y. HUM- rHRIEs, citizen of the United States, residing at Voodsdale, in the countyof Person and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPlant- Hill Markers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it ap- 'pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to land markers, and more especially it is a machine for marking land which has already been formed into parallel ridges into which it is desired to insert the plants. These ridges run acrossk the field at a predetermined distance apart, say three and one-half feet, and one of the fobjects of the present invention is to mark points in them at about or a little less than the same distance apart, namely three feet, so that the entire field will be checked and can be plowed or cultivated in both directions after it has been planted. l

Another object of the invention is to so construct the machine that scraper sections are carried in front of the runners which do the marking, these Scrapers standing at a decided angle to the runners so that they cut through rather than ride over the crowns of the ridges. The Scrapers are of such length that they displace said crowns for a little distance on each side of the path formed by the runners, so that the surplus earth will not be thrown onto the tender plants by the process of subsequent cultivation. y

The machine possesses other details and advantages which will appear from the following specication and claim, and which are brought out in connection with the acc ompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a plan view and Fig. 2 a side elevation of this machine complete. l

Referring now by reference-numerals to the accompanying drawings, the numerals 1,.

l designate two runners which in a fullsized machine will be about four feet in length and one by six inches in size, and the same may be made of plank such as is available to the average user. To the lower face of the front end of each runner is secured a flat metallic plate or shoe 2 which extends beyond the extremity of the runner and is upturned in abrupt angle, and its vfront end 3 pierced lwith two holes. Overlying and secured to this shoe is the scrapersection 4L, also by preference made of wood and beveled along its lower edge as at 5 to lie in the angle of the shoe between its upturned end and the front extremity of the runner. In order that the earth in the crowns of the ridges, through which the runner passes, may be pushed aside and not permitted to fall into the path made by the runner, the length of this scraper section is preferably about twice the width of the runner. These runners are connected by a superstructure whose construction is capable of considerable vmodification but asshown it may be described as follows: Against the rear side of each scraper section and across the upper edge of the same extends the lower leaf of an L-iron cross bar 6, and bolts 7, 7 pass through this leaf, through the scraper section, and through the holes in the upturned front end 3 of the shoe whereby the parts are held togetherjdetachably. Said leaf is also provided with additional holes as shown, so that the exact position of the runner with respect to the cross bar can be adjusted as desired. The other runner at the opposite side of the machine is similarly constructed and the parts similarly connected. To each runner is secured a knee 8 of A- shape as shown, and from the apex of the knee a brace 9 extendsforward tothe cross bar 6, to whose upper leaf it is riveted or bolted as at 10 into one of a number of holes which permit adjustment as above described. The two knees are connected by a rear cross bar ld-also by preference of L-iron-whose lower leafo-verlies the braces 9 and is pro.- vided with a number of holes 15, andithrough one of these holes passes a bolt 141 which secures the rear endof the brace to the cross bar and the latter to the knee. The obvious purpose is to enable the lateral adjustment of parts at this point, the saine as the structure above described adapts the-machine for lateral adjustment at its front end. Secured to the front cross bar 6 atpoints 17, as by being riveted or bolted to upper leaf of this cross bar as shown, are two handles 18 whose rear ends have grips or hand-holds 19, these handles being connected by a cross lrung 20 at a proper point and being braced as at 21, the lower end of the brace by preference being engaged with the same bolt which connects the braces; 91 with the rear cross bar 16, or with another bolt passed through one of the holes 15 if the machine is adjusted for a rather wide travel.

I would make the runners, the Scrapers, and the' handles of wood, and the remainder of the structure of metal, and a full-sized machine will weigh between fifty and sixty pounds.

The draft is accomplised by hitching a horse or a pair of horses to the front cross bar in any suitable manner not necessary to emphasize.

In connection with this machine I preferably employ a gage for indicating the line along which the nearest runner of this machine should be driven when returning across the field. This consists of a rod 20 pierced with a number of holes 21 corresponding with the series of holes for adjustment as described above, these holes 21 being near the center of the rod. At each end of the latter a finger 22 depends from it, made preferably of metal and of a length to cause its lower end to travel just above the ground, and yet of sufficient resiliency to permit the finger to yield in case it strikes an obstruction. The rear end of the braces 9 are carried past their points of connection with the rear cross bar and are turned into loops 24, preferably provided with upright eyes 25. In these loops the bar or rod 2O is slidably mounted, and when one finger lies against one loop, one of the holes 21 in the bar or rod will be in registration with the eye through the other loop, and a pin 26 may be dropped therethrough to hold the parts in this position. On the return trip across the field, the gage will be shifted to the other side in a manner well understood. This bar or rod may be of wood or metal as desired, and its use is obvious.

It will need no further illustration to make it clear that if desired I might build a machine with more than two runners, but in that case the pair of handles would be disposed in about the center of the width of the machine so that it could be operated by a single man. I-Ie travels behind the machine, which is drawn forward by a horse or a team of horses,and the operation and use of this device are as follows: Assuming that the land is to be planted with tobacco, it is first plowed and harrowed and formed into ridges extending across the field three and a half feet apart. With the runners standing three feet apart, center to center, this machine is then driven across the field in a line at right angles to the rows or ridges, and their crowns are knocked 0H by the scraper sections. rides over the part of the ridge remaining, and then the runner fiattens it out and supports the superstructure while the machine passes on to the neXt row or ridge. Attention is directed to the fact that the angle Immediately the shoe between the runner and the scraper (which is the same as the angle between the body 2 and the front end 3 of the shoe) is rather abrupt as best seen in Fig. 2, and this construction I employ purposely in preference to curving upward the front end of the run ners as usual in sledded machines which are to travel over the ground. The purpose obviously is to permit the angle to knock olf or to scrape away the crowns of the ridges, rather than to ride over them. In the action desired, the runner moves straight forward along a substantially level line. If its front end were upturned on a curve, it woud often ride over the ridge without cuttinflr through it as I desire, and the runner would be constantly following a sinuous line. Yet if the device as I construct it should strike a stone or stump, the inclination of the front end 2 of the shoe and the body of the scraper 4 is sufficient to permit it to pass over the obstruction without injury to the machine or the horse. Heretofore it has been necessary to knock off the top or crown of the ridge by two strokes of a hoe, and then flatten it out by tamping with the same hoe, and it will be obvious that by the use of a machine of this kind a much larger volume of work can be done than could be accomplished by a single operator with a hoe. Moreover, by the use of the gage at tachment the field will be checked, and the plants can be cultivated by plowing both ways subsequently, The purpose of the scraper sections is to knock off so much of the crowns of the ridges adjacent to the points where the plants are to be set, that subsequent cultivation can be done with a horse implement without causing loose earth tofall onto the tender plants, thus doing away with the necessity for cultivating by hand and with care.

Especial attention is directed to the fact that the shoes supplement the Scrapers, and the runners follow the shoes and flatten out parts of the ridges but are wide enough not to indent the soil. The result is that the land is best prepared for planting in hills, and is checked both ways as set forth.

Where the parts are connected I prefer to use bolts of standard size which may readily be purchased in theopen market, and the use of bolts permits the members to be disconnected as for the substitution of worn or broken parts or for the purpose of storage -or transfer.

What is claimed as new is In a hill marker for land which has been formed inparallel ridges, a pair of wide, fiat runners standing parallel and rigidly spaced from center to center a distance substantially equal to that between said ridges, a shoe having a flat body underlying the front portion of each runner and its front end turned up at an angle toits body, two

scraper sections carried by the upturned ends In testimony whereof I aHX my signature of the shoes and longer than the Width of in presence of two Witnesses.

the runners but With their inner ends spaced from each other, and a superstructure con- JOSEPH Y' HUMPHRIES' 5 necting the runners and sections and dis- Witnesses:

posed Wholly above them, the Whole for use N. L. COLLAMER,

substantially as described. GEO. M. BOND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

